HIM to Headline 20th Anniversary Tuska Festival

HIM by Ville Juurikkala

Iconic Finnish metal band HIM have been announced as a headliner for the 20th anniversary of the Tuska Festival. The festival runs from June 30 – July 2, 2017 in Helsinki, Finland. American punk band, now turned thrasher metal, Suicidal Tendencies, along with Mexican American extreme metal band Brujeria have been announced so far.

This will mark the first time that HIM has played the long running Tuska Festival and their first outdoor gig in their hometown of Helsinki. “Early-crow” tickets are now on sale for the festival. You can visit Ticketmaster Finland to grab the 3-day tickets. Additional ticketing options and other artists will be announced soon.

It looks like 2017 will see the return of HIM to the live stage after the band went on a long, well deserved break at the end of 2014. During that break, drummer Gas Lipstick decided to leave HIM and pursue other musical interests. Singer Ville Valo appeared on the track “Knowing Me Knowing You”, an ABBA cover he did with guitarist Mark Gemini Thwaite. The rest of HIM have been busy in their on again side project, Daniel Lioneye, and will do a small tour of Germany and England this December in support of their latest release, Volume III.

We here at Life On The Scene eagerly await the return of the Finnish metals gods to the world’s stage! Who’s up for a trip to Helsinki at the end of June 2017? Global HIM fans, check in and tell us where you’re from, where you’ve seen HIM perform or where you’ve traveled to see HIM perform.

HIM to Release Lashes To Ashes, Lust To Dust’ in November

Finnish platinum selling band HIM (vocalist Ville Valo, guitarist Mikko “Linde” Lindström, Mikko “Migé” Paananen, Janne “Burton” Puurtinen on keyboards and Mika “Gas” Karppinen on drums) have been a cultural phenomenon in the alternative rock world for over two decades, now they are excited to announce the upcoming release of an exclusive limited edition boxset ‘Lashes To Ashes, Lust To Dust’: A Vinyl Retrospective ’96-’03 on November 25th via The End Records. The boxset includes the rare debut 1996 EP ‘666 Ways To Love: Prologue” on 180 gram heavy weight vinyl for the first time ever, along with an exclusive Heartagram logo slipmat and a USB drive with 37 bonus tracks, 80 tracks all together, all re-mastered. Also to be released on November 25th, four of their iconic albums, ‘Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666’, ‘Razorblade Romance’, ‘Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights’, and ‘Love Metal’ will be released in multiple configurations, all re-mastered with bonus tracks, exclusive liner notes, and special packaging.

A must for any diehard HIM fan, these deluxe vinyl (in crushed velvet cases and colored vinyl to match each album’s art work) and boxset releases can be ordered in time for Christmas here and dont’ forget to check your local independent music store like Hollywood’s Amoeba Records to grab your copy.

HIM have also scheduled a couple of weeks of global concert appearances for the end of the year to promote ‘Lashes To Ashes, Lust To Dust’: A Vinyl Retrospective ’96-’03 which will culminate at home in Finland as they perform at their annual Helldone New Year’s Eve concert. Finnish ticket agency Tiketti is giving away a pair of tickets to the always instantly sold out New Year’s Eve bash on their Facebook page but sadly it doesn’t include the airfare to Finland! Click on the “see translation” button if you don’t read Finnish. Good luck to those who enter! This California girl has long-held onto the dream of going to Finland for Helldone on New Year’s Eve.

Other concert dates leading up to Helldone are listed below. Tickets are on sale now (and are sure to sell out so grab ’em quickly) and would make a great early Christmas present!

Dec 05                     O2 Shepherds Bush Empire                                        London, United Kingdom

Dec 06                     O2 Shepherds Bush Empire                                       London, United Kingdom

Dec 09                     Webster Hall                                                                  New York, NY

Dec 10                     House of Blues Boston                                                 Boston, MA

Dec 11                     Starland Ballroom                                                          Sayreville, NJ

Dec 12                     The Fillmore Silver Spring                                           Silver Spring, MD

Dec 16                     The Wiltern                                                                     Los Angeles, CA

Dec 17                     Marquee Theatre                                                            Tempe, AZ

Dec 18                     House of Blues San Diego                                            San Diego, CA

Dec 19                    House of Blues Las Vegas                                             Las Vegas, NV

Which HIM album is your favorite? If you are lucky enough to attend one of these concerts, which city will you be seeing HIM in? Leave a comment for Life on the Scene readers below. Check back with us in December as we plan to bring coverage of the concerts to our readers.

H.I.M. Release Tears On Tape

Finnish rockers H.I.M. are back after a long time off with their 8th album Tears on Tape via Razor & Tie in the U.S. & Canada.

Tears On Tape was recorded in their home country with long-time producer Hiili Hiilesmaa and mixed by long time-band associate, Tim Palmer (U2, Ozzy Osbourne, Pearl Jam, Robert Plant).

It’s been three years since the band – Ville Valo on vocals, Linde Lindström on guitar, Burton Puurtinen on keyboards, Migé Paananen on bass and Gas Karppinen on drums have toured the USA. Drummer Gas Karppinen suffered from carpel tunnel syndrome which forced the band to take a long break while his health and ability to continue drumming were evaluated. It also gave the band time to pause and reflect if H.I.M. would carry on. Luckily for fans of the love metal band, Gas is back in fine drumming form and the band are on the road! After a handful of European record release dates, the band are due to hit the USA for a quick run of shows before they return to Europe for the summer concert festival circuit. The band have hinted at an autumn return to cover the USA more extensively, but nothing has been confirmed at press time. Most of the USA shows are SOLD OUT but check Ticketmaster for any last-minute ticket releases.

HIM Tour Dates
May 3 – Los Angeles, CA- House Of Blues (SOLD OUT)
May 4 – Los Angeles, CA- House Of Blues (SOLD OUT)
May 5 – San Francisco, CA- The Fillmore
May 8- Chicago, IL – House Of Blues (SOLD OUT)
May 9 – Toronto Canada -Danforth Music Hall
May 10 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza (SOLD OUT)
May 11 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza (SOLD OUT)
May 12 – Philadelphia, PA – Theatre Of Living Arts (SOLD OUT)

At first listen, Tears On Tape seems to be a lighter offering than H.I.M. fans are used to but after a few spins it reveals the bands signature heavier sounds in the carefully mixed layers of each song. Ville’s vocal range and Linde’s shredding, dark guitar chords lead you through an album of haunting lyrics. This album follows in the path of their last effort, Screamworks: Love & Theory in Practice. My favorite is the heavy, hard-hitting tracks on Venus Doom. I can’t wait to see some live shows with the new music because that’s when the bands heavy hitting sounds really emerge! Don’t miss your chance to see this band live.

Check out the video for the first single in the USA, title track Tears On Tape. You can grab your copy of the album on iTunes

 

For a look back at H.I.M.’s last visit to Los Angeles, please check out my photos here. I covered the event for CFM Music Scene which sadly lost their archives a while back so the full article is no longer available.